A RENEWED hunger and the desire to leave the sport on a winning note will be driving eight-time national champion Jay Marmont this weekend in the opening rounds of the Australian Supercross Championships in Bathurst.

Marmont and the rest of the competitors got things underway last night at the Bathurst Showground and will contest round two this evening.

Among the 31-year-old’s list of victories are four Australian Supercross crowns, clinched in 2003-04 and 2011-12.

Last year he was relegated to fourth courtesy of Matt Cross’ performance, but Marmont said he can climb back to the top of the tree after announcing recently that this will more than likely be his final season.

“If I do win this series there might be some second thoughts about my decision,” he said.

“But I’m 31 now and I feel like I’ve done everything in the sport that I wanted to do particularly in Australian racing so for the moment I’m pretty happy with my decision.”

Having gone from first to fourth in the space of one championship, one of the most experienced riders in the field wants to make sure that looks like an aberration.

“After I won in 2012, I came into last season a bit underdone and after finishing the first race on the podium, I didn’t get back onto it until the final round at Townsville,” he said.

“I feel really confident at the moment, this could potentially be my last days as a Supercross rider and I just have a real desire to win.

“There are 20 guys on the start line and they all have good bikes and good support and are all trying to win. 

“But I feel like I’ve put in the training, the preparation and if I can eliminate my mistakes, I think I’m capable of getting back up there.”

Marmont has linked with the Penrite Oil Honda team for the 2014 championship and couldn’t be happier with how the new partnership has gone so far.

He is riding their CRF450R and even before he had the chance to take it onto the course proper, he was confident as to how it would handle the Bathurst venue and how the track itself would hold up.

“It is a good course, the track is really easy to view all around, the dirt is good, the jumps are good and there are plenty of passing spots,” he said. “The crowd will definitely get into it. It is pretty cool to be riding around down there and look up and you can actually see Mount Panorama and what’s happening up there.

“It would be great to get a lot of people coming down to watch.”

Racing will get underway from 7pm tonight at the Bathurst Showground.